[196] Gobi Divine Soldiers

Truckloads of materials were transported to the northwest along the Beijing-Sui Railway, which was repaired in October 49, and the wool, furs, grains and medicinal materials of Inner Mongolia and the northwest were continuously transported to the Central Plains along this vigorous and vigorous steel bloodline. And a large amount of cloth, paper, tea bricks and weapons of the troops are also constantly being transported to the northwest through this steel bloodline.

The Longhai line connecting Lianyungang to Lanzhou is under intensive restoration and new construction, and the line will be completed in 1952. Only the completion of this line can relieve the pressure on the Beijing-Sui line and truly let the western part of the motherland flow smoothly.

The Lanzhou-Urumqi Lanxin Line, the longest railway line built after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which was originally scheduled to start construction in 1952 and completed in 1958, also began construction just after the Spring Festival in 1950. Once the Lanxin Line is completed, Xinjiang will no longer be a distant and unfamiliar place on the map for the people of the Central Plains.

Lanzhou, a thousand-year-old city, has gradually become a transportation hub in the west under the planning of the central government, and to complete the construction of these two lines, 20,000 railway engineers have been concentrated here.

A large number of old railroad tracks brought by Xiaoqiang have been brought to life here. Although these 120-ton heavy-duty rails have been scrapped in 2011, they are more than enough to cope with the 40-ton carrying standard of 1950 heavy-duty rails, and the quality of 120-ton heavy-duty rails replaces the 40-ton heavy-duty rail standard, making these old goods okay even if they are used for another 50 years.

With a large number of steel rails and a large number of scrapped sleepers brought by Xiaoqiang, the railway soldiers of New China no longer have to stay where they are and wait for the rails to arrive, nor do they have to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall as they did in history -- dismantling more than 1,600 kilometers of branch railways across the country to repair the main lines.

Today's railway engineers only hate having few arms and short days -- only two arms and only 24 hours a day. They fought hard against the bitter cold of winter against the sandpaper of the west, and fought the railway line day and night.

Fortunately, due to the decision of the central authorities to stop exporting grain and agricultural and sideline products to the Soviet Union to repay loans or exchange equipment, the food of the railway soldiers has greatly improved compared with history.

Zhao Shiyuan, an engineer of the Ministry of Railways, took a bite of the big apple of Shandong in his hand, squinted in the dazzling sunlight and shouted: "Lao Wang, you told the comrades to rest, it's too hot at noon!" ”

The old Wang in his mouth is Wang Jiangnan, the head of the 28th Regiment of the Railway Engineering Corps, Wang Jiangnan is only 38 years old this year, tanned by the sun, his face is already full of stubble, his greasy hair has not been washed for a long time, and he has been roughly combed into a cadre head by the owner. I can't see where he still has the spirit of the south of the Yangtze River, coupled with the smell of wind and sand in the northwest, as well as his rough style, it is even more impossible to see that he is still a Suzhou person.

Wang Jiangnan said loudly: "What are you resting for? I just ate instant noodles, and the oil and water are so big that I have to let the comrades work and digest it quickly, otherwise it will be a pity to pull and at night. It's a little sundry now, but people who are freezing at night shiver, and the ghost weather in the northwest is really weird. ”

Zhao Shiyuan looked helpless, and said in his heart, "This old Wang doesn't speak like a Suzhou person at all, but like a mud monkey born and raised in the Gobi from this wind-blown sand, rude and powerful." ”

However, Zhao Shiyuan also likes the recent food, the railway engineer who is used to eating coarse grains and salt white water, has suddenly improved his food recently, with apples and instant noodles. He heard that this instant noodle was originally intended for front-line combat troops, but later the central government said that this thing took up space and was easy to break, so he distributed all of them to the engineering and railway soldiers as dry food. Don't say it, it's delicious, in the words of some warriors, it's "thief delicious".

There was not a word on the milky white plastic bag of instant noodles, and when the bag was opened, there were two transparent pouches inside, one containing the spice powder and the other the oil packet. This instant noodles are distributed once every two days, and the soldiers all love to eat them, and they like to be tight.

Everyone eats sparingly, and every time they have to squeeze the oil bag clean, they will lick the bag again until there is no oil flower left. After eating the instant noodles and drinking the soup, wipe the rice bowl again with a dry nest. There are also some soldiers who are reluctant to wash it next, saying that the soup is still fragrant at night, and besides, there is still oil and water on the lunch box.

Zhao Shiyuan, who was born in a family of Puhai intellectuals, is not used to seeing the soldiers so poor, no matter how delicious this instant noodles are, you don't have to lick the oil bag and lick the lunch box, right? I lick the bag too, but I wash the dishes every time!

After listening to Lao Wang's vulgar words about working and, Zhao Shiyuan shook his head lightly, turned around and walked towards the improvised headquarters.

This is said to be the headquarters, but in fact it is a material dumping point in the wasteland, except for the neatly stacked steel rails and concrete sleepers, there are north winds, rocks, stones, sand, and weeds. The headquarters was not a serious house, just a large tent, standing alone on the edge of the steel tracks, along with the makeshift barracks tent in the distance, indicating the presence of humans here.

Zhao Shiyuan entered the tent to find a bench to sit on, and reluctantly gnawed on the apple core in his hand while considering the current construction progress of the line.

"This kind of heavy rail is good, but it is too thick and too long, the rails that are usually used are only 6 meters long, at most 8 meters, who would have thought that the rails transported by the central government this time are 12.5 meters, and even part of the length is 25 meters! It's scary, it's made of steel, and it takes 50 soldiers to carry a rail, and if you're not careful, you'll have an accident. Fortunately, the route map given by the Ministry of Railways is unprecedentedly clear, and I don't know how the Ministry of Railways drew this map, but it looks like a photo taken by a plane from the sky, and it looks real! The scale parameters of the line are clearly written, but some places on the map are completely covered by black ink, and I don't know that this is weishenme. ”

Zhao Shiyuan ate only the stalks and apple seeds from the apple core, but heard Wang Jiangnan shouting outside the tent: "The car is coming, Lao Zhao, hurry up and pick up the car." ”

Zhao Shiyuan got up and lifted the canvas curtain and walked out of the tent, and sure enough, he saw a train slowly emerging from the skyline in the distance. Because it was running too slowly, the steam on the locomotive was almost straight upright.

As if greeting the engineers, the locomotive in the distance sounded the whistle, and the whistle of the steam locomotive was Zhao Shiyuan's favorite, long and deep, listening to a kind of liliang full of pride in it.

Zhao Shiyuan said: "Looking at the mountain and running a dead horse, looking at the steam braid, you know that it will take at least an hour to come." ”

Wang Jiangnan said: "I don't know if I brought instant noodles this time, comrades like to eat that thing." ”

Zhao Shiyuan said casually: "You also tell me about your soldiers, is it good to brush the rice bowls, for that little bit of oil flowers, as for the instant noodles one by one, don't brush the bowls?" Poor sour! ”

After saying this, Zhao Shiyuan regretted it a little, but he was a nerd in science and engineering, and he didn't know how to speak implicitly.

Wang Jiangnan was stunned for a moment, looked at the train that was moving slowly in the distance and was silent for a while, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Zhao, have you ever eaten sweet potatoes?" ”

"I've eaten it, it's sweet, it's best to eat it grilled."

"Have you ever tried eating sweet potatoes for eleven months a year?"

This time, Zhao Shiyuan was silent.

Wang Jiangnan said: "There are many soldiers in our regiment who come out of the ravines, and the families grow barren barren slopes, and the grain produced in one year is only enough to eat for one month after paying the landlord's rent, and the remaining eleven months are to eat sweet potatoes, and use dried sweet potatoes to cook wild vegetable soup, and you can't see a single star of oil flowers for a year." After eating sweet potatoes for a month, people began to sour water, and they turned up from their stomachs one by one, and the sour people's throats and eyes hurt their hearts, and their internal organs were uncomfortable, and they had no strength. In winter, there are no wild vegetables, and it is even more sinful to eat dried sweet potatoes and boil water. The local poor people live past 40 years old. ”

Zhao Shiyuan's face was already red like a big girl's headscarf at this time, and he lowered his head and whispered slowly: "I'm sorry, Lao Wang, I don't know about these things." However, how do you know, aren't you from Suzhou? ”

Wang Jiangnan said: "You didn't know before, so I didn't blame you." Before liberation, I went into the mountains to mobilize the masses in accordance with the instructions of my superiors, and lived with these ordinary people for more than a year. I still remember that winter, I was so uncomfortable that I almost vomited my intestines, that sour water, more ruthless than any bullet and shell in the world, so uncomfortable that people just want to die, I drank water desperately, and it was useless to burst my stomach.

After I pulled the troops out of the mountains, I was happier to see the head of the black nest than I was to see my father and mother. The instant noodles we eat now are made of real flour! I heard that it is still fried. The Central Committee gave the comrades such a good grain to eat, and the comrades felt uneasy, and they did not dare to waste half of it. Lao Zhao, aren't you also licking the oil bag! ”

When Wang Jiangnan said this, he shuddered, he seemed to have returned to the ravine, back to the days when he was with his fellow villagers, spitting out inexhaustible sour water.

"But what you said is also reasonable, hygiene still has to be talked about, Lao Zhao, I will give an order when I turn around, telling comrades not to leave bowls in the future, and wash them all after eating."

Zhao Shiyuan replied simply: "Hey." ”

"But you are not allowed to say that our warriors are poor and sour in the future, this is not a good word."

"Hey." Zhao Shiyuan agreed.

The 28th Regiment of the Railway Engineer Corps had assembled here under the command of Wang Jiangnan at this time, and the soldiers stood neatly and solemnly, as if they were going to meet the chief's review.

I only listened to Wang Jiangnan's order: "All pay attention, start unloading." ”

After the soldiers got the order, they immediately rushed to the train, pulled up the iron bolt on the door of the cargo compartment, several soldiers jumped on the cargo compartment, passed the boxes one by one, and the soldiers under the car lined up in a long line, carrying the goods hand by hand to the temporary storage point of materials.

Some staff members in military uniforms came down from the locomotive carriage in front of the train and handed over to Wang Jiangnan.

Seeing that it was Zu Mowu, the commander-in-chief of the railway engineering corps, who took the lead, Wang Jiangnan hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"These five comrades are new drivers sent from the Northern Capital to your regiment by the Minister of Railways Teng Daiyuan on his personal order." Division Commander Zu Mowu introduced.

"Driver?" Wang Jiangnan was stunned.

"Yes, crane driver, this time the Ministry of Railways has transferred five 8-ton cranes to you, and these five comrades are drivers and crane operators who have just been trained."

Hearing this, Wang Jiangnan and Zhao Shiyuan were immediately overjoyed, stepped forward, and warmly shook hands with the five comrades.

"Great, great!" Wang Jiangnan was so excited that he could only say this sentence.